“Sleep” by Bryan Charnley

Meir Kryger, an American Professor in sleep medicine writes “When one goes to sleep, one falls alone, and when one enters dreamland, one walks by one’s self. Here lies the appeal for artists.”

Bethlem Museum of the Mind displays Brian Charnley’s painting entitled ‘Sleep’. Diagnosed with schizophrenia in adolescence, Charnley (1949-1991) was said to have found sleep a great refuge, and used his dreams as a source of imagery and inspiration such as in this painting. Art connoisseurs draw attention to the painting’s power to take the sleeper away from a mundane and bounded existence, represented here by the claustrophobic wallpaper of the room to the dream window which opens onto a wide blue sky crossed by a skein of swans, a beautiful image of freedom.

An initiative by the World Association of Sleep Medicine and The World Sleep Federation, the day is intended to be a celebration of sleep and a call to action on important issues related to sleep, including medicine, education, and its social aspects.

Do celebrate World Sleep Day by visiting ‘Sleep’ at the Bethlem Museum.

The museum extends its thanks to Dr Joan Rutherford for writing this blog post.